(1564–1638) attributed, Zwei Soldaten auf der Wanderschaft, Studie nach einem Detail des Gemäldes „Die Bekehrung des Paulus“ (um 1567) nach Pieter Brueghel d. Älteren im Kunsthistorischen Museum (Inv. Nr. GG_3690), schwarze und bunte chalk, on paper, auf Holz aufgezogen, 33.4 x 24.8 cm, stark browned und soiled, mehrere Löcher und kleine teare, o. mounted, unframed, (Sch)

The present drawing is perhaps a preliminary study of Pieter Breughel the Younger, executed after the painting of his father. The latter is preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Inv. Nr. GG_3690) today. The artist executed several versions of this painting. The two figures are lent from the army with soldiers in armour and noble horsemen on the march. They climb up a hill amidst a bizarre mountain landscape with a coastal plain in the far distance. The painting by the elder Pieter Breughel varies Saul's experience on the road to Damascus, which is reported in the biblical Acts. The persecutor of Christians who went to fight against Christians was driven from his horse and subsequently temporarily blinded by the Lord. Differing from the Biblical report Brueghel chose a mountain landscape for the setting of the scene, the beam of light which blinds Saul is seen at the upper left. The painting is dated 1567, one year after the Calvinist Iconoclasm. Then the newly appointed governor of the Netherlands, Duke Alba, campaigned with mercenary soldiers from Italy over the Alps to the Spanish Netherlands to put down the rebellion there. After a widespread Interpretation Brueghel wanted to express his hope that "Black Alba" may convert and change his ways like Saul did on the road to Damascus. Pieter Brueghel the Younger inherited his father's studio and executed almost in a serial production numerous copies after his father's compositions. The present drawing may have been executed as a preliminary study for a copy after a painting by his father. The attribution of the present drawing was confirmed by Dr. Klaus Ertz, Lingen.